From April 2-9, 2001, I was blessed with a week of rest and relaxation in Punta Cana on the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. When Christopher Columbus spotted the coral-rimmed Dominican Republic, he proclaimed, "This is the fairest land under Heaven". The Dominican Republic, which covers 48,442 sq. km. of the island of Hispaniola, offers some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and the country is also home to the highest mountain range in the entire Caribbean. Punta Cana and the Playa Bávaro area is one of the Caribbean's newest "hot" spots, and several resorts have sprung up there in the past few years. Still a rural area, though, Punta Cana has no real town to speak of. Punta Cana is located in "La Altagracia" province of the Dominican Republic, on the southeastern portion of the country. La Altagracia is home to two national parks, the famous Punta Cana resort area, and Isla Saona. The capital city is Higüey. All of the resorts in the area are all-inclusive as there is really nowhere to go outside the compounds. My travel agent suggested that I try a new place, the Hodelpa Caribe Club (http://www.hodelpa.com/properties/caribeclub/index.htm), which had been open for only a few months when I went. A good recommendation indeed...the staff was very friendly and courteous, the food was above average, and the brand-new resort was spotless and impeccably manicured.

  

   Surrounded by jungle, it was fairly isolated. The buffet was the main dining area, and at night there were also restaurants (reservations required) on-site to go to...Italian, Chinese, Mexican, a wine bar. The pool area was magnificent and from there it was just a few feet to the beach.

   Snack food was available all the time, and the liquor (also included) flowed freely at the bar. Honestly, you could go there for a week and never leave the resort. I, however, like to be adventurous and explore the "real" country.

I took a day trip from Punta Cana to Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. The roads are not the best until you hit the southern coast, so the trip (one-way) takes over three hours. On the way, you pass through Higüey and San Pedro de Macorís before arriving at the Columbus Lighthouse on the edge of the city. From there, you have a good view of most of the city and can visit the Tomb of Christopher Columbus.

  

  

From the Lighthouse, our tour went into the center of the city so that we could visit some of the sights in the Zona Colonial...the Alcázar de Colón and the Casas Reales. After a brief rain shower (the only rain during the week), a tour of the beautiful Cathedral was next, followed by lunch.

  

   After lunch, we were given some free time to shop along El Conde, the main shopping district of the city.

  

   It's hard to see much in a few short hours, and I wish that I'd had more time to spend discovering more of what Santo Domingo had to offer. On the way back to Punta Cana, the bus stopped at a shopping plaza in La Romana where we were able to purchase some of the beautiful, locally made handcrafts, wood carvings, and ceramics.

Another day, I took an excursion into the countryside to experience more typical Dominican life. Sitting in a resort all day sipping Piña Coladas is NOT the way to experience the local culture, and going to a foreign country without doing that is a waste of time in my opinion. Experiencing new things is part of the fun of travelling. Seeing the sugar cane fields was interesting. Sugar cane is a main ingredient used to produce rum, and the local brand (Brugal) was very good. Workers in the fields are from Haiti as Haitians provide cheap labor and are willing to do jobs that the Dominicans won't.

   Our journey through the countryside took us through several small towns after we passed through the city of Higüey.

  

   Another stop on the tour was at a fruit plantation where we saw pineapples, bananas, coffee, and several other crops being grown. Samples of the different fruits were provided, and all were very tasty. Also provided was the opportunity to witness a cockfight, something that is illegal and considered to be cruel here in the States. There, it's part of the culture.

   Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed lunch at Rancho Yonu, where we went horseback riding in the beautiful countryside.

   The day was capped off by a visit to Macao Beach, which is north of Punta Cana and the Playa Bávaro. Words can't describe how beautiful that beach was, and we had it mostly to ourselves. The views in every direction were what postcards are made of.

  

  

   Playa Bávaro, which runs along the coast in the resort area, is beautiful as well. My only complaint about the beaches was the seaweed. There was a lot of it washing up on the beach and quite a bit in the water too. The hotel staffs did a great job of cleaning up trash on the beaches, however they do not remove the seaweed. As one of the staff members explained it to me, they feel that the seaweed is a natural part of the environment (which, of course, it is) and therefore should not be removed from its "natural" place. Still, this was a minor thing...hardly enough to ruin a wonderful day on a gorgeous Caribbean beach.

  

One morning, I managed to get out of bed early enough to catch the sunrise on the beach. So calm, so soothing, so relaxing, so beautiful. I had the beach to myself and just sat there in the chaise lounge watching a new day dawn before me. Oh yes, life was good.

  

  

  

The Dominican Republic was a very cheap vacation and a good value for the money. The Hodelpa Resort was beautiful and I would certainly recommend it to anyone considering a trip to Punta Cana. If you're looking for a wild, frenetic nightlife and duty-free shopping, try Cancún or Aruba. However, if it's simply rest and relaxation on the white sand amongst the palm trees that you seek, Punta Cana is the ideal, laid-back place to unwind and forget about the stresses of your everyday life for a while.